Hostetler 30% Chipmunk

[Ramjet]

That must be frustrating...You got to wonder why they go through the trouble to make a kit and draw plans if they're not accurate?

Yeah , not a huge deal but like you say frustrating ,having to waist time on redo's . Must have gotten spoiled building all those yellow and Carden kits years ago, hell even Sig is better LOL.

[Ramjet]

shot of the power plant I will be using . Valach 120 B2 ..

[Ramjet]

framed up the rudder and have started on the elevators , installed the carbon fiber rod for guiding the hinge pin, also laminated and clamped the main spar for the rear stabilizer ..

[Ramjet]

So I have the tail feathers completed except the sheeting ,I like to do all the sheeting together . My process is do all the framing ,then the hinging , then the mechanics , then I close things in with the sheeting .. I framed up the wing center section and have started laying out the right wing panel . I did didn't like his system for adding the wing fillets after the whole plane was sheeted . the bulkheads were not cut to provide for wing fillets so I made new bulkheads that include the basic shape of the fillet so they can be sheeted together with the fuse . I don't know how with the layout on the plan that you could add the fillet in the correct location anyway, so better I change it up now . this is one big chipmunk , can't imagine the 40%er

[Ramjet]

The right wing is framed , I only needed to add a light ply doubler to the trailing edge of W5 , this area seemed very weak . The plane calls for only partial sheeting of the wing . I will be fully sheeting the plane and painting it ..

[-Rick-]

Curious, what does that plane use as a wing tube? I looked at your plans and only see small rods going through the fuse.

[Ramjet]

Rick it uses plywood spars . I guess because of the dihedral a wing tube won't work , have the top sheeting done on one wing and framing up the other

[Ramjet]

A little trick I use to sheet the bottoms of the wings is to make a cradle from the shape of both end ribs of the wing . The wing has alignment tabs to keep it square when you sheet the top ,but the wing is still quite flexible when you flip it over to sheet the bottom .

[Ramjet]

Have the wings all sheeted and the center section mounted , started working on the belly stringers and the wing fillet former's . So much for just doing a few pieces before spring , the way the weather is going I may just get this finished

[Ramjet]

Did the stringers on the fuse , also made the landing gear blocks that will be epoxied into the leading edge of the wings .. The blocks are massive 5"x 4-1/2"x 4" that you must make up to mount the gear . Decided to change things up a bit and start on building the oleo struts . Machined the main tubes and inside cylinders & roughed out the oleo joints , next I will make the collars that mount to the bottom of the outer housing that have the upper pivot . the lower pivot is a metal block the will be welded to the inner shaft ..